jade was just an ordinary girl in and ordinary world her life was peaceful she had friends and she had a good family. Everything changed the summer of her 15th birthday when they annouced the test. They couldnt hurt anyone she thought but that's exactly what they did. In an instant the peaceful calm city she had called home had changed to a nightmarish place where dead bodies lay in the streets and the sick and elderly went without care.

   They killed my sister my baby sister how could they hurt her just because she couldn't read, what right did they have to decide who lived and who died, Who where they to take such innocent lives everyday these questins plagued my mind like an old friend but I already knew the answer, the government that's who they where and they could do anything. It was exactly one month ago when they came to give my sister the test we had been warned of this test long ago it was the test that decided whether she would live or die, It was the test that left are people in a panic and my friends dying in the street and it was the test that she had studied for everyday instead of playing or going outside. It was a cold sunday afternoon and there had been no warning the air outside had been peaceful and the clouds where as white as could be there was nothing that even hinted slightly that the moment we had been dreading was coming. I had just got home from school and was heading for the door when I saw a tall thin man heading for me, he was in clothes that I vaguely remembered but from where I wasn't quite sure, the feeling in my gut told me that he shouldn't be here although I had no intention of telling him to leave in fact I had no intention of ever speaking with him at all. My hope of avioding him was quickly destroyed when he turned to talk to me his voice sounded like rusted metal and I fought not to plug my ears but as bad as his voice may have sounded nothing could have been worse then what he actually said. He told me that he had come to give my sister her test, well actually what he said was I have come to test your sister of proficiency of the third degree from the official's. Quickly I called to my mom. Hello their miss maze I trust that you are well prepared for this day but it is time that I take your daughter he said his voice formal yes yes of course she is ready she's sitting at the table waiting her mom lead the strange man into the house without a second thought and to anyone else this would have seemed strange to lead in a man whom you knew had nothing but bad intentions to your own child as if to lead a heard to its slaughter but to me, to our people and everyone else who knew are way this was normal to refuse was to die to bury yourself in your own grave. My sister sat there waiting until the man handed her a pencil her curly brown hair pulled tight into a pony tail and her fingers twitching anxiously he said you have five minutes to prepare that was when I was told to leave the building along with my mother. Three days latter we got a letter labeled official's district my hands shook as I tore open the letter my sister on my lap and my mom at my side I pulled on the soft white paper watching my fingers carefully pull it out as if one little tear could mean my life. I read each word slowly speeding up after reading the words you have passed. She smiled look sissy I did it I'm a ge-nee-ius she cried mispronouncing the word genius my mom let out a sigh of relief laughing with us. Shortly after she begged me to do her hair saying on my license I want to look like a princess I braided her hair into two little pig tails and told her to get dressed . It was about two o’clock when my mom announced it was time to leave her as we drove along the city streets I remember seeing how relieved she looked and how my sister's eyes sparkled she had done what no one else had she had passed the test that we thought would end her life . Soon we came to a tall brick building it didnt look like any building I had ever seen before it's windows shaded and it's floors seemed to go on and on into the sky it looked cold and lifeless and something about the place felt wrong. We walked down a dark descending hall until we came to a room that reminded me of a prison it had steel walls and cement floors there was what looked like a steel table in the center of the room and a huge window on the right side of the room outside of the window you could see a playground full of little kids yelling and screaming they all looked as if there wasn't a worry in the world but they didn't know how worried they should have been . There was a man waiting for us inside the building his body was built like that of a body builder with big muscles and broad shoulders he wore a uniform of a government worker and had thin black hair that told of his many year's his presence brought a tension that seemed to thicken the air around as if trying to choke me. He told my sister to go outside and play while he talked to my mom his voice void of any emotion at all. He waited a moment until she was outside then a smirk started to form on his face she has failed he said at that moment I saw a tear form in my moms eye then he started laughing mockingly as I saw another man grabbed my sister she screamed and struggled but it was no use I tried to run to help her but my mother pulled me back he brought her in and sat her down in front of us before she could react the man pulled out a gun and pointed it at her shooting her right in the head her killing her immediately. Her cold body lay lifeless at our feet her braids turning a bloody red. My mom started to cry screaming and yelling my meha why have you killed my meha she had fallen to her knees when she saw the men laughing at her she stood still with tears in her eyes she looked at me silently as if to say it's time to go we walked to the car without a word.The car ride home was filled with awkward silence after that my mom cried a lot until finally she stopped it was as if she had gone numb with grief and had run out of tears the only emotion visible was worry and grief she said very little and no longer smiled like she had before when I told jokes she no longer laughed she just faked a smile which soon faded to a worried look that made me feel like there was no hope for anyone. Everyday I worried that I would fail the test I studied in my free time but I couldn’t focus as I read the information seemed to go in one ear and out the other I fond myself rereading paragraphs several times until finally I gave up I cooked dinner every night for my mom since she didn’t cook anymore she didn’t do much anymore

besides stare into space I wanted to stay home from school the next day to morn my sister but I knew one day could mean the difference between life and death one day could mean passing or failing and so I went anyway and decided to morn her latter I didn't have time to grieve I couldn't let anything make me loose my focus I couldn't afford to let something distract me not even my sister's death.

               The test and death
   The government is testing us if we refuse to take the test they will kill us and if we fail the test they'll kill us we do not know when or where we will take the test but we know that we will. I'm jade and this is my story